Too much of everything

Sorry, this movie sucks

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

For me, one of the great roles of Al Pacino. and one of the most impressive love story films. for many reasons. in many forms. because it is a film about deep solitude. about escaping from yourself. about hope, in a manner who easyly escapes if you define it as a sport film. one of films reflecting, in inspired manner, the actors behind the roles. and this is one of basic motifs to see it time by time. not for artistic virtues, not for message but for a forme of precious honesty. and it is enough for admire "Bobby Deerfield" as one of admirable films.

I can recall when this movie was released to theaters. At the time Al Pacino was one of the hottest box office stars around. In the five years prior to this film he starred in THE GODFATHER 1 & 2, SCARECROW, SERPICO and DOG DAY AFTERNOON. So the odds are that he would have a turkey eventually. This is the giant turkey, one big enough to feed a family or two come Thanksgiving.Pacino stars as formula race car driver Bobby Deerfield. Bobby lives the high life, plenty of fast cars and money, married to a top model and yet bored to death. When a friend is involved in a terrible crash, he goes to visit him in the hospital and there meets Lillian (Marthe Keller). Strongly attracted to her he tracks her down and insists on spending time with her.The two begin an affair but Bobby soon discovers her reason for being reluctant to do so. Lillian has a terminal illness and the odds of her surviving are slim at best. And yet she lives her life to the fullest. She presses Bobby to do the same, to spend the time he has with her to discover life.I won't reveal anything here about the plot but it has all been done before and much better. On top of that the movie is a snooze fest that was difficult to watch. Pacino can be one of the most dynamic performers ever seen on screen but here he's left to mope around and contemplate life, something that lends itself to boring to watch. Which this film is.I was stunned to see the number of positive reviews for this film online. I remember when it was released it was savaged by critics and died an agonizing death at the box office. Seeing it I can see why. Word of mouth on this film had to have driven the nail in its coffin. It wasn't so much that I found myself dozing off at various moments in this film (though there were those moments) it's that I kept hoping something would happen that would draw my interest. I wanted to have characters that I cared about and yet I found myself not caring on iota about any of them. While potential tragedy with the lifestyles of the rich and famous should not interfere with feeling sympathy, here you find yourself with a lack of caring that matches those of the characters on screen.Keller, on the rise prior to its release having done MARATHON MAN and BLACK Sunday never seemed to recover after this film. Pacino, a star by this time, was much more fortunate. Director Sydney Pollock also did well after. That's good news because had their careers been determined by this film we might not have ever heard from them again.Twilight Time has again made a great presentation of this film for those that love it. If you are among those make sure you get a copy since as always they've limited the number of copies being made.

I'm surprised to see it's actually not a racing movie but a love story, and a rather good one and among the few that did Pacino. Sure, for the asphalt lover, you will have a excellent introspective of a pilot(the danger, the uselessness of making circles) and a good retrospective of what was F1 in the late 70s. But, it's above all a dramatic romance that happens in Europa (Paris and Firenze essentially). As it's an early Pacino, he's the nervous, a bit cold and not smiling easily actor of that period. What's interesting is that her girlfriend will change him as a more cool, compassionate that's actually the old Pacino. The good thing also is that the girlfriend is very funny, free, careless and it's a big change from the usual romance, even as if Al says, she's a bit difficult to follow. In addition, Marthe Keller is a fine woman and it's also the proof that charm doesn't mean sex appeal. Another thing that catches my eyes is the carefree way of life of those times(drinking, smoking) and the flashy fashion. In a way, it's like the rebellious generation of the sixties has reaches adulthood without losing their conviction. So, explain why now, in the 10s, everything is forbidden and it's the time of the dark suits!

Marthe Keller is fantastic as usual and the touchy love story with Al Pacino convinced me at the first vision. Also the European locations are perfect and a few scene just like the flying balloons contest are unforgettable. The acclaimed Sidney Pollack was skill to direct two big stars with his delicate touch in tune with this kind of plot. Bobby Deerfield (*Un attimo una vita*in my country)deserves to be seen from the ones loved movies like *Love story* or *The way we were*. An advice for the car racer fans : this movie tells about an F1 driver but don't you expect a movie like *Days of thunder* the rope of all the matter for Bobby Deerfield is the growing remorse in his risky life beside a life close to the end, the ambition the achieving of a victory are not mentioned.